Sparks
by ShushDarling
Summary: Marinette hates that Chat has her wrapped around his finger. He's made her heart into a mess of confusion, and she doesn't know how to handle the fact that she was anything but loyal to Adrien when she was being pinned down and kissed by Paris's beloved Chat. And to add onto her list, Adrien seems to want to get closer to her. But then there's Chat. Then there's Adrien. Yikes.
1. Abruptness is not Love

He dozed off while subconsciously tapping the end of his pencil on the desk he and his best friend Nino shared. He knew the basics of the current lesson being taught, so he didn't have much interest in the re-teaching at the moment. He let out an aggravated sigh, unable to sort his thoughts out. He remembered his little Ladybug. He honestly wished that there was some akumatized supervillain so that he's have an excuse to see her.

Don't get him wrong, she's not the main reason he fights. He started fighting because he wanted to. She just gives him motivation and desire to keep it up and do his best.

He dozed off thinking about every fight they've faced this past while until the bell rang and snapped him back into reality. Nino stretched his arms up and yawned, catching Adrien's attention.

"Oof... Dude, I'm tired man..." He grabbed his textbook and sighed, "I'm gonna go home and I'm gonna sing."

"Sing?" Adrien quirked and eyebrow.

"Yep. I'm gonna sing to my bed as I flop onto it," he picked up his ruler and used it as a microphone. He shot Adrien a playful look and sang, " _It's been a long day, without you my friend._ And I'm going to pass out on the thing." He laughed at his own bad singing. "Anyway," he put his ruler in his bookbag, "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Talking to Alya?" Adrien guessed.

"Yeah. Man, I don't know how I was able to get a girlfriend before you." Nino chuckled, glancing at Alya. His smile quickly vanished.

"What's wrong?" The blonde asked, noticing his friend's smile disappear.

"Nothing really. It's just... Marinette," he whispered, gesturing to the girl trudging out of class with Alya patting her back as they walked out. "she's been really down in the dumps. I noticed even before Alya told me about it. I dunno, I'm just used to her funny, awkward, ditsy attitude. I mean, I used to _like_ her, so it's not like I'm not gonna notice the change in her vibe, you know."

Adrien _did_ notice how quiet she was today. He had to think for a second. He did consider Marinette to be a friend, and he didn't really like it when people he cared about were upset. Even if he wanted to help her, he wouldn't know how, he didn't know her well enough to know what would make her better.

"Anyway dude," Nino slipped his bookbag straps onto his shoulder, "gotta bounce. See ya later man." Then he walked out of the room.

Adrien gathered his own things before doing the same.

Once he exited the building, he caught a glimpse of Alya hugging Marinette before hesitantly waving and walking away.

He greatly inhaled the fresh air and and then puffed it out. He was resisting the urge to ask her if she was okay, because clearly she wasn't, so asking wasn't going to help his concern in any way, even if she did say that she was fine. He thought for a moment when he watched her walk away. Maybe she just needed some super help. Like, say, from a super hero?

Like, say, Chat Noir.

He was extremely confident around Marinette when he was Chat, but when he was himself, well, he was a bit more shy, not as open, more civil. It was a totally different story for both sides of him. Anyway, Marinette didn't need civil, she needed someone who was strong enough to comfort her. So until then, Adrien would bit his tongue and let Chat Noir handle this.

* * *

It was night time, Tikki was asleep so Marinette decided to sit out on her balcony and admire the city lights. The girl was still a bit upset by the recent events that her family had gone through, but eventually, she will move on.

A while ago, Marinette got the most amazing news; her parents were expecting a baby. For the longest time, she was trilled to be a big sister, and her parents had gotten everything ready for the baby as the pregnancy went on, and they were excited to raise a new child.

Of course, everything went downhill from there.

Marinette took a deep inhale and held her breath.

Her mother lost the baby.

After a few seconds, she then let the breath out into the form of a sigh.

She had to accept what had happened in order to move forward. She was not going to be a sister. She was still going to be an only child.

That's not all that's happened. Lately, Chloe's insults have gone from rude to utterly hurtful. Instead of a stupid girl, she was now called a bitch. Whenever she chatted with Adrien now and then, she was called a whore rather than a boy thief. When she tripped or did something clumsy, she was a dumbass instead of an idiot. The list continues, but the dark haired girl didn't want to keep thinking about the recent bullying.

It didn't help that her romantic life was a bust, but what else was new with Adrien? She always managed to look stupid in some way and stutter when she attempted to speak to him whenever he was around. Per usual.

She heard light footsteps behind her and quickly turned around, her firsts up and ready to strike.

"Whoa, easy there little lady!" The masked feline put his hands up as if to say that he was surrendering.

"Chat Noir?" Marinette lowered her defenses by half, still keeping her guard up.

"Hello Princess," he said, gently taking her hand and raising it to his lips.

Marinette blushed at the contact and slowly let her hand fall to her side after he let go.

Then she hit him.

Hard.

She whacked him across the face with her fist with little hesitation.

He held his stinging cheek with his hands after realizing what had just happened.

"Ow! Since when do princesses abuse their knights in shining armor!?"

"You scared me you dumb cat! Ugh! Why are you even here? Are you here to attempt to give me a heart attack?" She asked, ignoring his question.

"Ow... No, I'm just here to chit chat with one of the cutest Little Ladies in Paris. Is that so wrong?"

She looked around and then pointed to herself. "Me? A cute lady? Chat, you _must_ be joking. Aren't you in love with Ladybug or something?" Her tone came off more sassy than he would've liked to hear from her. It didn't help that she crossed her arms, only to show how much more sassy she could get.

He had to process what she's said for a moment. "Hmm, Princess, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that you were jealous." He cooed.

"Wha- Ha, as if."

"I was joking," he lightly laughed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Anyway, may I come in?"

"Well, I was going to crash up here tonight," she paused, brushing his hand away. "but yeah, sure."

She was thankful that she'd taken down the pictures of Adrien a while ago. She'd been dealing with a lot, and the pictures of him didn't really seem to help, so she just put all of them in her closet and replaced the bare walls and empty photo frames with other things. She didn't want to seem like a crazy fangirl to Chat, or anyone really. Alya was the only one not weirded out by her little obsession.

He slid down the ladder that led to her room and began to relax. The masked hero's mind started to wander though. Whenever he was Adrien and happened to see Marinette, she would give off this happy aura around her that made him feel a bit more happy himself. But, when she actually knew he was there, he noticed that she acted a bit more, strange. He was so used to his stale, unloving atmosphere at home, so when he got that kindness from her and, how Nino put it, funny, awkward, and ditsy attitude vibe, he felt a little more perked up.

And here he is, as Chat Noir, and she was a bit hostile, seeing as how she punched him. Her tone was more flat, angry, or full of sass. Her posture intimidating and her guard obviously kept up. He started to wonder where that loving smile and awkward shyness went.

Once Marinette climbed down the ladder, she switched the lights on and watched as Chat threw himself onto her bed in a tired heap. He'd been running around the city for a while to stretch his limbs, and now he was a bit exhausted... And now his cheek hurt. She sat beside where he laid limp and gave him a couple pats on the back as a little apology. He grabbed her wrist and placed her hand on his head, wanting more attention and little pets.

 _Well he sure as heck is needy..._ Marinette thought as she complied anyway, running her fingers through his golden hair.

She heard a little rumbling sound coming from him, and after a few seconds, she realized that he was purring. She giggled, playing with the ends of his hair a bit more. The two of them made some small talk, he made her sigh and struggle with trying not to smack him upside the head after every cat pun he casually slipped into conversation, and then, as planned, Chat Noir decided to get more personal to find out what's upsetting his depressed damsel.

"So, Princess... A little birdie told me that something's upsetting you at a great deal. Care to share?" He finally pried.

The dark haired girl had to think of a way to reply to that. She sighed. "My family's just going through a really, really rough time right now. I had a huge mental breakdown, and my parents are really upset about it."

"How bad is the issue, if you don't mind me asking."

She released a long, dragged out sigh. "...My mom was supposed to have a baby. It just... it didn't work out." Her fingers stopped messing with his hair, causing him to open his eyes.

He studied her expression, he couldn't quite read it, her face was to drained and blank. She bit her lip and blinked back a few tears threatening to spill. That part Chat noticed. He shifted himself to where his head was on her lap and he was staring up at her teary eyed expression. He held the side of her face with his hand and sighed.

"Princess... I'm sorry to hear that." He didn't know what to say, and he couldn't possibly understand how bad she felt about this kind of situation.

Chat could relate in losing a family member though, but this wasn't really the same. His mother was gone, but Marinette's family never even got to meet this baby that they were openly happy to welcome into the world.

When he was Adrien, he never really got to know Marinette that well, but they're still friends, as far as he was concerned. As Chat, he'd saved her and talked to her a few times, and has visited her home a few nights to get some home made treats from her as a "reward" for being a hero, much to her annoyance. He was kind of surprised to see that she was easily opening up to him. Maybe it was because he was a famous hero here in Paris, or maybe she just really needed to vent.

"Yeah... Well, it's alright now. For me, at least. Maybe if mom and dad end up expecting again, they'll do everything they can to make things right that time. Who knows, maybe they won't even have another pregnancy again and I'll stay an only child."

He stroked the side of her face to comfort her..

"Sorry, I'm talking too much." She gave a weak laugh and went back to playing with his hair.

"No, I'm sorry for asking about something so personal."

"Nah, it's fine. You were just curious. We've all been asked personal questions before." She rubbed his head to reassure him. "You didn't come here just because you've heard that I'm upset, did you?"

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Why would you think that I need a reason to see you? You _are_ my Princess. A knight is loyal to their princess, so of course, your Knight in Shining Armor as come to help you emotionally vent."

"Well, thanks Kitty-Kitty. Maybe you're not as useless as I thought." She smiled after seeing how conflicted he was about that comment.

She lied down on her bed, causing Chat to have to move. She was just starting to get comfortable with her eyes closed, her back pressed against the mattress and her hands behind her head, then she felt a ton of weight on her torso, making her eyes snap open to find The blonde feline laying on her. He buried his face in her stomach and wrapped his arms around her.

"Don't neglect your kitten!" He joked, lifting his face to see her reaction.

His eyes scanned her, she was flushed in a deep shade of red, her eyes wide and full of anger.

"I really thought-... Do you just flirt with everyone you meet?" She pushed his shoulders in an attempt to get him off of her, then she started hitting him over and over when pushing had no affect.

"Haha, ow! What is it with you hitting me today? _"_ He asked her with a low chuckle.

She gave up and stopped pushing and smacking him. "What is it with you being all weird today?"

In reply, he just looked up at her, his expression blank.

"Hey, Marinette?"

"Hm?" She looked at him, trying too hard not to blush any more.

He tried think of how he wanted to word his thoughts to her. In the end, he settled for asking, "Have you ever kissed anyone before?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. She could tell he was genuinely curious, but why did he want to know? Her heart was beating extremely hard, banging against her chest, the thumping ringing in her ears. The grip he had on her tightened, and her head started to spin. He caught her gaze shifting to his lips, and he raised himself over her. His hands and knees were on either side of her. He was staring into her heavenly blue eyes, and when her body tensed, he cupped he side of her face with one of his hands and closed his eyes after pressing his forehead to hers, then she relaxed a little.

"Have you?" he asked again.

Ironically, she _has_ kissed him, but for one, he didn't even remember it, and two, she was Ladybug at the time, so she didn't consider it to have been a real kiss. "No, I haven't.. Why? Have you?"

"Mm," he had to think. He's been friends with Chloe ever since they were kids. She kissed him on the cheek when they were seven, but that was about it. "No, I haven't exactly had that Fairy Tale kiss either." he joked.

He lifted his face to look into her eyes again, searching her ocean blue orbs. What he was searching for, he didn't know. Maybe a hint of passion, longing, lust? He wasn't sure. He was starting to crave this thing that he did find in her. Her eyes were soft, yet focused on his lips and full of want and shyness all at once.

"Don't hit me."

Before she could ask what he meant, he slowly placed his lips on hers, and kept it like that for a few seconds. She didn't process what was happening until he deepened the kiss ever so slightly. It wasn't rough, it was more comforting than hungry, and she melted into it. She felt safe as she wrapped her arms around his neck. His lips were in between soft and slightly chapped, but they still felt perfect against her own.

She could almost feel what he was feeling. She could catch onto the uneasiness in the back of his mind, just because of their joined lips. She ran her fingers through his blonde hair in an attempt to reassure him, and he took that as an 'okay' to kiss a bit harder. Though, truth be told, as spark filled as this kiss is for both of them, they both tried convincing themselves that this didn't mean anything. This was just a curious act, maybe self comfort.

He nibbled on her lower lip, getting a relaxed sigh from the girl beneath him. He planted butterfly kisses down her cheek to her jawline, trying to get her to melt more for him to take this farther. He knew that he had to soften her to get what he wanted, that's how some girls worked. And she was definitely one of those girls.

Her breath hitched when he ran his tongue across her bottom lip, asking for entry. She let him in, and he indulged in exploring her mouth. The two of them were like this for a while, he led the way for her, she was pretty clueless when it came to kissing, but the softness of her lips, the way she tangled her fingers in his messy blonde hair, the way she accepted and embraced him, he felt his chest get warm and his cheeks set ablaze.

When he pulled from the kiss, she let out a small whine, making him pleased with himself for making her want him so much. He moved himself to her neck, looking at the pale skin for a few seconds. She tried to hold back a small moan when he started nipping at her there, but failed. He took a minute to help himself to her, and she took that minute as torture. She could feel how close he was to her collarbone, her sensitive spot. She squirmed and held back a few noises, but others managed to be heard by this cocky super hero who was getting too close to her collarbone.

"You're such a liar..." she gasps between hitched breaths and moans.

"Am I?" he didn't look at her, he just kept at making her melt under him in ways he couldn't even imagine.

She let her hands come back to herself, and that managed to get the boy's attention. "You're too good at this for you not to have kissed anyone before."

A pause, then a chuckle, he leveled with her so that he could look into her eyes.

"Princess." his voice wasn't all sexy like it usually is in the movie or books, it was a little awkward and hesitant. She decided she liked it better this way that the stereotypical perfect manly voice. His tone made her feel like Chat was in a genuine state right now, like he wasn't trying to impress her, this was really just him.

 _Beep beep beep!_

Marinette knew that sound. It was the sound his ring and her earrings made when they were about to switch back.

"I have to go."

"...Okay."

He had to go, but he didn't want to. Even though there was no defined relationship he had with Marinette, he still felt safe with her like this. He took his time getting off of her. They both felt each other's heat leave the other person, and they both felt a loss.

 _Beep beep beep!_

He went to her window and saluted her with two fingers like he always does during an exit, then he opened the glass doors and left.

Marinette didn't know how to feel about him, but she did feel passion in their actions.

She was left to reflect over what she had just gotten herself into.


	2. Hickeys Show Lust, not Love

**Please** **Read To Understand!** **Explanation** **to** **some concerned reviewers about Chat Noir in Chapter One:**

Haha, dude, I'm so sorry if you misinterpreted the last chapter. I must have worded something wrong for some of you to think that Chat Noir is a total fuck boy in this fanfiction. Chat is **not** some sex-hungry douche bag in this, I promise you angry babes. Just wanted to tell you that this will end up being about genuine love~ He **is not** a playboy, and will never be, promise. Though because of what happened in chapter one, Marinette's going to start referring to him as playboy, much to Chat's chagrin.

It doesn't matter if he's Adrien or Chat, the guy has feelings, and he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who thinks with his sexual urges. People that live in isolated home lifestyles with _constant_ boundaries like Adrien, they tend to get lonely, and depend way too much on someone they end up caring about in the wrong way. What I think, is that he doesn't know much about how relationships and bonds are supposed to work, considering that the only girl that's ever really advanced on him is Chloe, and now Lila. (If you don't know who Lila is, she's in the Volpina episode)

That's pretty much why Chat rushed things with Marinette with no explanation. She opened up a little, and he pretty much fell hard. She complied because she was pretty beaten up by the recent events in her life, and in the heat of the moment, he made her feel wanted and comforted, which she **really** needed.

Now, did she have to be so passionate? No, of course not. But if you're a teenager in high school, kissing a _really_ hot guy, and you have these things called hormones and emotions, you may get a little carried away. Did Chat have to be so quick to pin her down like that? No, but again; hormones, emotions, and not knowing how a stable relationship functions.

 **Reviews** **:**

Speaking of reviews, they keep me afloat and writing. At least some of you took the time to drop a review for me, and I appreciate that very much. The more feedback I get, the more work I put into my writing, the longer these chapter get, and the faster these chapters come out, so please, let me know your thoughts and opinions thank you! The less reviews, the shorter the chapters are, and the longer you have to wait for a new update. My friend said that I should use this method. She uses this a lot in her writing.

So note; this chapter will be a bit shorter.

 **Promise :**

MariChat and Adrienette (Maybe some side LadyNoir and Ladrien?) promised in this fanfiction. Romantically, like I said. Not sexually. I guess I just get carried away writing kissing scenes cuz they're fun to write~

 **On with the story:**

* * *

"You look terrible girl." Alya rubbed Marinette's back a few times as a sign of comfort, and she accepted it with a tired groan escaping her slightly parted lips.

No, kissing Chat didn't fix her problems, sadly. Her parents were especially somber this morning, trying to be as chipper as possible for their daughter's reassurance. Alright then, her problems with her family's loss were still real. Her problems with Chloe were going to the be real when that 'little miss thing' stepped into class. Her Adrien problems? Those she hardly had the ability to not be upset over. She was still head over her freaking heels for the guy, and she felt guilty about what she'd done with her freaking _partner_!

Not that Chat _knew_ Marinette was Ladybug, but still, it felt so wrong looking back on it. This could interfere with their teamwork on fighting akumatized villains or patrolling together like they do often if he found out who she was. In retrospect, she felt like she should've showed much more self restraint.

She peeked up at Alya who was expecting a response, so she mustered what she could. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

Ha! Didn't get _much_ sleep was an understatement. She didn't sleep _at all_ last night, and she definitely didn't look too good. She was slumped on her desk, she struggled to keep her eyes open, her expressions were tired, even more tired, exhausted, and then about to pass out. And she was so out of it this morning that her pigtails were way uneven when she put them up, which Alya took the liberty of fixing.

So her day started as usual, Chloe entering, looking at Marinette like she wanted to spit at her feet as she sashayed by, Sabrina following. She sat in her respective seat and turned back to Marinette, sending her a 'Wow you look like shit' look. A sneer played on her barbie doll features as she turned her gaze elsewhere thinking of how much better she was than the tired girl.

 _Okay, nothing new there._ She thought to herself bitterly as she closed her eyes and listened to the people in class converse with each other.

Alya attempted to make small talk with Marinette, but she was too tired and absorbed in the thoughts about a certain playboy cat to contribute to the conversation, so she just asked her about her LadyBlog and let her babble on about that, half listening and half adsorbing herself in her scattered thoughts. She offered an occasional "Yeah", or, "Uh-huh" to let her friend know that she was listening from time to time and gave a shrug when asked a question.

Adrien and Nino hustled through the door, catching the pair's attention, and a deep pang of guilt built in Marinette's chest. She looked away the second she made eye contact with the blonde model himself. She just couldn't do this right now. She wanted to go home and forget that he, or Chat, or _both_ of them ever even existed. Though, she did catch one more glimpse at him. He looked a bit tired himself, and for a reason she didn't know, he looked... guilty? But, despite the worn out features he had on, he looked composed, yet relaxed like always.

The atmosphere felt so weird for her, but she knew that she was the only one feeling it.

"So, Adrien, I heard you had a photo shoot last night, is that true?" Alya lied. She didn't really hear about that, or care for that matter. She just tried getting his attention and planned on throwing it to Marinette as an attempt to do her a favor.

Of course, since Marinette is pretty good at not telling people how she feels about certain things, Alya didn't quite the memo of Adrien's attention being the last thing she wanted right now.

"No, actually," he sat down in his seat next to Nino and set his things on his desk. "for once I was able to catch a break. My father's been busy trying to hire new staff for the photo shoots since a lot of the old workers got laid off."

"Oh? What for?"

"Stealing equipment," he stated simply.

"What exactly could you even steal from a job like that, man?" Nino asked aloud.

"Duh you idiot, cameras that cost thousands of euro to own and use!"

And while Alya went on a rant about that, not that Nino really cared, but he still listened, Marinette let out a sigh and leaned back on her chair, again, half listening and half thinking to herself.

Adrien was extremely squeamish about talking to her, considering what he'd done with her as Chat last night, but he still managed to put on a cool face and ask, "Rough night?"

He noticed that she nearly tipped out of her seat in surprise. She was too busy subconsciously listening to Alya that she forgot he was even there.

"U-um... I-uh-yeah. I guess you could, you know, say that, I guess." she tried to not sound like a stuttering mess, but hey, she should be used to looking stupid in front of him by now. The thought of this kind of scenario having happened often made her flush in embarrassment.

"Yeah, I had a long night myself, school just seems to be an extra load on top of it all, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. Well, you're night couldn't have been as tiring as mine." she vented, mostly to herself. "I couldn't sleep at all." she sighed.

He fought the urge to let out a laugh at that statement. He simply nodded and smiled politely, running his fingers through his hair. "I'll take your word for it."

"W-well, it's not everyday you get a surprise visit from a _super_ irritating person..." She couldn't help but put emphasis on 'super' to stress her point. She shook her head and pulled her sketchbook out of her bookbag beside her chair and sighed. "It's definitely not often you get played by someone like that... At least not by people you trust..."

"Played?" He raised an eyebrow. He knew she was mumbling about Chat Noir, but he didn't think that she'd speak so lowly of him like that. "Um, care to share what's on your mind?"

Quickly realizing what she'd said, she just shook her head vigorously to dismiss the comment. "Never mind, I was just talking to myself a bit. So, um, you said you had a long night too? Did something happen?" She flipped through her sketchbook to a blank page and started doodling to avoid eye contact with him.

He shook his head. "Haha... Um, no, not really! I was just doing the usual!"

Marinette nodded, and then tried to change the subject to something more fruitful and asked him if he'd watched any good shows lately, his expression bightened as he rambled about this one he recently finished called Sword Art Online. Well, he mostly ranted about the plot holes in the show and said that the abridged parody was much more amusing. She made a small noise here and there to let him know that she was listening, and she kept getting confused about the concept of the show, given how he tried to describe it.

While Adrien chatted on about the anime, and Mari she sketched, he noticed some sort of mark above her collarbone. After closer inspection, he went stiff when he realized what it was.

"Um, Marinette?"

"Yeah?" She looked at him with a shy smile playing onto her lips.

 _Ohhh boy... Has she even seen it? Has someone else noticed it?_

"I'm not trying to alarm you, or anything... But, you-um... Just, come here."

She was hesitant, but leaned down to him from her desk. He raised himself from his seat to whisper the concern into her ear in a very hushed tone for no one else to hear.

This caught Nino and Alya's attention, and even a few other classmates, including Chloe. They watched as Marinette's face went from flustered by the closeness to Adrien, to completely mortified by who knows what in seconds.

She bolted upright and skidded out of the classroom without explaining a thing to Ms. Bustier as she had walked in.

"What the heck did you do?!" Alya threatened.

Nino was about to tell her to cool down, but then the teacher cut them off and told them to sit down so that she could start class.

 _Nice one Chat..._ Adrien kept mentally kicking himself.

* * *

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!"

She looked into the bathroom mirror and moved her jacket over and saw the fairly noticeable hickey just resting there on her neck, surrounded by her pale skin. Her shirt had _barely_ covered it! She frantically thought, _Has someone seen this?! Oh my god! Adrien must think I'm with someone! Or worse! That I'm some sort of, I don't know, harlot!_

"UGH!" She kicked the wall beside her and let out a rough, ragged sigh.

Tikki was sitting there on the edge of the sink, confused as to what was happening. Marinette had to remind herself that Tikki was asleep when Chat had shown up, so she obviously wouldn't know what was going on.

"Marinette, what exactly is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?"

She was struggling to hold back tears from all of the emotions sweeping over her. She was angry because of Chat, she was depressed because of her family problems, she was feeling more hatred because of Chloe, and now she was embarrassed because of Adrien. There were too much to handle all at once.

"Oh my god! Next time I see Chat I'm gonna kick him into the freaking Sun!"

"Chat? You mean Chat Noir?" Tikki pressed.

She let out a frustrated squeal and punched the mirror as a reaction to hearing Chat's name, resisting a bit to prevent the glass from shattering.

"Who else could I mean?" she huffed. "It doesn't matter... What matters is that this thing," She pointed to the red marking on her neck. "goes away as soon as humanly possible! I can't believe Adrien was the first person to tell me about it..."

"Marinette, is that... a hickey?"

She was a bit surprised by the fact that Tikki knew what a hickey even was, but then she remembered that she was over five thousand years old, and there may have been quite a few Ladybugs that she's been with that have dealt with stuff like this.

"Yeah. Courtesy of Chat Noir himself."

She noticed how unfazed Tikki looked, and it kind of bothered her a bit. But she ignored it, running the sink water to get her fingertips wet, and then rubbing them on the unwanted mark. She was hoping that it would just magically disappear. When it was still there when she pulled her fingers away, she scoffed.

"No use crying over it I guess..." She pulled out her pigtails and let her hair brush over her shoulders and a bit of her neck. It was long enough to help cover the hickey, and she let out a little sigh of relief.

"Let's just go back to class."

* * *

It was kind of late now, maybe around nine. The city was dark, but the lights illuminated the way and was quite a sight. Chat just sat there on top of some sort of business building, just waiting and watching. Truth be told, he was trying to plan a proper way to apologize to Marinette, but he just couldn't exactly piece together as to how he was gonna go about it.

He couldn't just wing it, god knows how badly he'd mess up doing that. He remembered the way she reacted to him when he'd told her about the mark left behind because of him. She looked horrified. When she'd rushed out of class the way she did, he could tell that Alya was ripping him to pieces in her mind, her hard glares piercing him like daggers.

 _God I admit, she was intimidating._ He almost found his fear of Alya amusing to himself. The great Chat Noir who has fought countess Akumatized villains is afraid of his classmate. Meh, to be fair to himself, she actually had been akumatized a couple times. First as Lady-Wifi, and then brought back by the Puppeteer.

Anyway, when Marinette did eventually come back to class, everyone noticed her hair having been let down. Her hair had a slight wave in it from the constant hold up of the hairbands she used for her twin tails, and she looked pretty cute with it just freely flowing out, truth be told.

She dodged every question Alya and Nino threw at her and avoided Adrien the whole day after that. After school had ended, he even went out of his way to apologize for whatever it was that he did, which resulted in her walking away as if she hadn't heard him. It was just like how she acted toward him when they first met. She basically just resented him.

And he knew that he deserved it. After all, it was sort of Adrien's fault that mark was there in the first place. Not that she knew that, but still.

He knew he wasn't too far from the Dupain-Cheng's bakery, and he assumed that Marinette would still be up around this time. Maybe he should just apologize to her and talk out what exactly had happened between them the night before. Maybe it would clear the air.

He stood, he decided, then he jumped from the building he was on to the next, and then ran to jump to the next one after that. After a few minutes of letting his instincts lead him to Marinette's terrace, he had to stop himself from just blatantly opening the trapdoor that led to her room. But what was he supposed to do? Just knock? It just seemed too formal for his style. But if he just went right it, he could possibly make Marinette even more pissed off at him.

 _Ugh, the conflicts of dealing with the females in the world..._ He though sourly.

He ended up deciding to just grab the handle and go for it, and then swung the trapdoor open. He hopped in the opening, landing on Marinette's bed and took a deep breath. He walked down the steps that led to the main area of the bedroom and looked around. He was expecting Marinette to notice his sudden appearance and yell at him, hit him, push him back up the stairs and tell him to leave, or something along those lines.

He didn't exactly get pushed away like he'd predicted. He saw Marinette sitting in the chair that was in front of her desk, her expression blank, her fingertips repetitively brushing over the hickey he had left as evidence of his visit the night before. She looked at him after noticing his presence, and sighed.

He did not expect her to sigh.

Not at all.

He knew that it meant she was waiting for him to come back.

"Look-"

"We need to talk," she said, cutting him off.

"Believe me, I know," was all Chat could say to that.


End file.
